The most common method of acquiring seismic data at offshore locations is by towing a seismic streamer cable behind a vessel, and collection data corresponding to acoustic waves reflected from underground formations. The streamers which dominate the market today are based on electrical hydrophones built into cables which are towed behind vessels. The main limitations of such streamers are connected to the reliability and cost of operating such streamers.
A typical streamer typically may comprise a number of components, typically: a streamer cable, a lead-in cable, birds (depth and steering controllers of cable), acoustic underwater positioning network, head and tail end sections (isolating the active streamer from vibrations (etc.), head and tail buoys, recording system for the QC, data storage and management, back deck handling equipment, etc. The present disclosure focuses on the design of the streamer cable and its components.
Hydrophones and accelerometers can be realized in fibre optic technology however, such hydrophones and accelerometers have not found wide application in seismic streamers. Known examples of fibre optic hydrophones and streamer arrangements are described below.